Powerhouse Christian Church of Houston needed to create a high-impact video presentation while remaining budget conscious. The church estimated that an HD system with edge-blending capability would cost well over $200,000 and require a truck full of gear-way over the church's budget and out of consideration.
The church called in Texas Systems Integration (TSI) based in the Dallas/Fort Worth area to help them think through the options. TSI Senior Consultant Jim Martin explored many possibilities, including the high cost of a new HD camera and video system. The final design that TSI integrated for Powerhouse Christian Church is centered around a 42-foot triple-wide video projection system that is the focal point of the stage. This "video wall" is flanked by new high gain projection screens that help to make the existing SD camera system appear upgraded.
The design incorporates a Matrox Triplehead2go graphics processor to divide the video image between three BenQ SP-870 5,000-lumen projectors. The three projected images are overlapped to create one seamless image using Pro Presenter's edge-blending module. Because the cost of a custom 42-foot center screen would have been cost-prohibitive for the church, they utilized screen paint on the rear stage wall surrounded by flat black wall paint. The total cost for this center "screen" was less than $500. The use of high gain projection screens for the outside IMAG screens allowed the church to use the same model of BenQ projectors to achieve a similar image as a more expensive projector on a matte white screen. The BenQ SP-870 projectors use DLP imaging technology, offer 2,000:1 contrast, come with a three-year warranty and use a single bulb that is designed to have a low cost of ownership.
Video distribution to the projectors is achieved with Kramer TP series converters that transmit the XGA signal over standard Cat5e cable. The
Kramer devices are designed to transmit up to UXGA video over distances as long as 1,000 feet with no signal loss. The final image resolution for the triple-wide screen is 3,072 x 768, which is not a standard ratio and requires special graphics. New sources for these types of images have became available since the triple-wide format has grown in popularity-including triplewidemedia.com-where Powerhouse Christian Church sources many of the graphics they use each week.
The overall cost of the upgrade was around $30,000-well below what such a project "should" have cost the church. This incredible savings was made possible by creatively combining different elements into an integrated solution that met the exact needs of the church. The screen paint for the video wall, staying SD (standard definition), and the combining of the ProPresenter edge-blending module with the capabilities of the Matrox Triplehead2go graphics processor, account for much of the savings. In the end, the triple-wide video wall and video system upgrade has had a huge impact on the church's creative potential for a greatly reduced price tag.
